WORCESTER — The dozen or so people who showed up at Tuesday night's public hearing on the potential transfer of the city's cable television license to Comcast Corp. voiced mixed feelings about it.

While some praised Comcast for the cable services it provides and its positive record as a corporate citizen, others ripped the company for what they said is its historically poor customer service track record.

They argued that the transfer would not be consumer friendly, leave people with fewer choices and likely lead to higher rates.

Some also expressed concerns about whether Comcast would maintain the customer service call center that Charter Communications, the city's current cable franchise holder, now operates in Worcester. Charter is one of the city's larger employers.

Questions were also raised about the fate of Charter's other employees and its "Worcester News Tonight" program, which airs weeknights on Charter TV-3.

"This is a bad deal for Worcester-area consumers," Matthew Corey of Worcester told the city's Cable Advisory Committee. "Comcast has been last or near the bottom in customer service surveys. There will be no benefit to Worcester consumers and its cable subscribers; it's nothing but a shell game swap. Say no to this swap."

Mauro DePasquale, executive director of WCCA-TV 13, the city's public access cable channel, said Comcast has an opportunity to "redeem the cable product in Worcester" by being pro-active in high-definition television and Internet speeds and through a commitment to state-of-the-art technology.

"WCCA TV would be happy to work with Comcast and build a partnership that would help their bottom line as well as ours, while forging a relationship with our community that we can all be proud of," Mr. DePasquale said. "I hope there will be something positive that comes out of this."

Comcast is asking for a transfer of the city's cable license from Charter, as part of a complex deal in which Charter would leave Massachusetts next year and all its assets would become Comcast.

The transfer of all 182,699 Massachusetts customers in 53 communities to Comcast, which already has nearly 1.5 million customers in eastern and western Massachusetts, is one of the results of a merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which Comcast is purchasing for $45.2 billion

Charter has been the city's long-term cable television provider. In 2013, the city renewed its contract with Charter for 10 more years.

William S. Wood, chairman of the Cable Advisory Committee, said the license transfer can only be based on four criteria: the company's management, technical and legal expertise, as well as its financial capabilities.

He said if Comcast can meet that criteria, the transfer cannot be denied.

He added that none of the terms of the existing cable contract can be renegotiated and nothing can be added to it.

Daniel M. Glanville, vice president of government and regulatory affairs for Comcast's Western New England Region, opened the hearing by talking about Comcast and how it meets all the criteria.

He said while Comcast is a large nationwide company, decisions are made at the local level in regards to management in the communities it serves.

He also took issue with criticism of Comcast's customer service record, saying great strides have been made at improving it. He said the company intends to continue to invest in the area of customer service.

"Comcast is a large company that prides itself as a local cable operator," Mr. Glanville said. "The cable industry is very competitive and we have to perform to keep our customers satisfied."

He said Comcast will "step into (Charter's) shoes" if it gets the city's cable license and fulfill the commitments that are authorized in the cable contract.

He said there would not be price adjustments as a result of the transfer or a change in programming.

Mr. Glanville added, however, that Comcast would evaluate the local cable operation "post-closing" to determine what facets may need beefing up and which ones need to be scaled back or eliminated.

He emphasized that no decisions have been made regarding Charter's customer service call center in Worcester or its "Worcester News Tonight" program.

"We have heard the same concerns from other communities and they are duly noted," he said.

The Cable Advisory Committee took no action on the transfer request. The city manager is the contracting authority for the city and will make the ultimate decision.

Contact Nick Kotsopoulos at nicholas.kotsopoulos@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @NCKotsopoulos